Biology prof says eyeball may belong to big squid

Associated Press

Posted:
10/12/2012 10:03:46 AM MDT

This Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 photo made available by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows a giant eyeball from a mysterious sea creature that washed ashore and was found by a man walking the beach in Pompano Beach, Fla. on Wednesday. No one knows what species the huge blue eyeball came from. The eyeball will be sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. (AP Photo/Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Carli Segelson)
(
Carli Segelson
)

MIAMI—Word that a giant eyeball washed up on a South Florida has created a buzz on the Internet and in the marine biology community.

An assistant biology professor at Florida International University in Miami on Friday said the blue eyeball may have come from a deep sea squid or a large swordfish. Heather Bracken-Grissom says she started discussing the eyeball with her colleagues as soon as they saw the pictures on the Internet.

A beachgoer found it Wednesday in Pompano Beach.

Bracken-Grissom says the lens and pupil are similar to the shape of a deep sea squid's eye. She notes that the squid's eyes can be as large as soccer balls and they easily dislodge.

Florida wildlife officials have sent it to a research facility in St. Petersburg for testing.